Werner Fürbringer

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Werner Fürbringer
Werner Fürbringer, Kriegsmarine.jpg
Nickname "Fips"
Birth date 2 October 1888(1888-10-02)
Place of birth Braunschweig, Duchy of Brunswick, German Empire
Death date 8 February 1982 (aged 93)
Place of death Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch  Kaiserliche Marine
 Reichsmarine
 Kriegsmarine
Rank Rear Admiral
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
House Order of Hohenzollern
War Merit Cross (1939)
Relations ∞ 1916 Käte Rennau

Werner Fürbringer (2 October 1888 – 8 February 1982) was a German officer of the Kaiserliche Marine, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine, finally Rear Admiral in World War II. As a U-Boot ace in WWI, Kapitänleutnant Fürbringer sank 101 ships (97,881 tons) and damaged six further ships (10,201 tons) as commandant.[1]

Life

The Type UB III submarine was a highly successful class of German coastal U-boat designed during World War I, representing the pinnacle of German attack submarine design during that conflict. While 96 of these vessels were completed during 1916–1918, including SM UB 110, the later boats, such as those in the UB-122 to UB-150 range, represented the most developed examples of the type before the war's end.
Werner Fürbringer (center) with naval officers, including Max Valentiner (left, inclining forward) and Paul Hundius (front right).
Werner Fürbringer II.jpg
Werner Fürbringer , family.jpg
Alarm. Tauchen. U-Boot in Kampf und Sturm, Werner Fürbringer, 1933.jpg
Werner Fürbringer III.jpg

Werner attended elementary school in Braunschweig from Easter 1894 to Easter 1898 and then the Gymnasium Martino-Katharineum also in Braunschweig until Easter 1906, learning English and Dutch. He then attended Dr. Schrader's Military Preparatory Institute in Kiel until March 1907. On 3 April 1907, he joined the Imperial German Navy as an officer candidate (Crew 1907, with Otto Schniewind and others), received his assignment at the Kiel Naval School on 8 April 1907 and then received basic and first onboard training on the training cruiser SMS "Freya".

According to the assessments in his military records, he was considered exceptionally composed, possessing impeccable military and social manners; furthermore, he was highly musical, a gifted tennis player, and was well-liked by both his comrades and his superiors. He also always treated his subordinates correctly and benevolently—modestly and tactfully, yet also assertive when necessary.

  • 13 May 1907 to 31 March 1908 Onboard the SMS "Charlotte"
    • 11 August 1907 to 4 March 1908 stay abroad
  • 1 April 1908 to 31 March 1909 Commanded for studies at the Kiel Naval School
  • 1 April to 30 April 1909 Commanded to an infantry course
  • 1 May to 30 June 1909 Assigned to the ship of the line SMS "Württemberg" and commanded to a course at the Mürwik Naval Station
  • 1 July 1909 to 30 September 1909 Commanded to an artillery course
  • 1 October 1909 to 14 September 1910 Assigned to the large cruiser (armored cruiser) SMS "Roon" (Baltic Sea, North Sea, North Atlantic)
  • 15 September 1910 Assigned to the ship of the line and artillery training ship SMS "Schwaben"
    • 23 September to 19 October 1910 granted vacation leave
  • 20 October 1910 Boarded the Steamer "Kleist"
    • 21 October to 23 November 1910 Sea voyage to East Asia
  • 24 November 1910 to 20 November 1912 Onboard the large cruiser (armored cruiser) SMS "Scharnhorst" as part of the German Cruiser Squadron, based in Tsingtao (capital of the German Protectorate of Kiautschou)
    • 9 November 1911 to 13 May 1912 appointed Second Officer in the East Asian Naval Detachment, Hankou
    • 21 November to 15 December 1912 Sea voyage home
  • 16 December 1912 to 19 January 1913 Placed at disposal of the Torpedo Inspectorate in Kiel and granted leave
  • 20 January 1913 to 19 July 1918 U-boat service (watch officer until 28 March 1915)
  • 19 July 1918 SM UB 110 was depth charged, rammed, and sunk near the Tees at position at 54°39′N 0°55′W by HMS Garry, commanded by Charles Lightoller, the senior surviving crew member of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. This was possibly the last U-boat sinking during the Great War.
    • In his 1933 memoirs, Fürbringer states that, after the sinking, HMS Garry hove to and opened fire with revolvers and machine guns on the unarmed crew in the water. He states that he saw the skull of his 18-year old steward split open by a lump of coal hurled by a member of Garry's crew. He also states that when he attempted to help a wounded officer to swim, the man said, "Let me die in peace. The swine are going to murder us anyhow." The memoir states that the shooting ceased only when the convoy that the destroyer had been escorting, and that contained many neutral-flagged ships, arrived on the scene, at which point "as if by magic the British now let down some life boats into the water."
      • "During an attack on a convoy, the periscope of SM UB 110 was sighted. The escort vessels immediately converged and dropped depth charges on the diving boat. In the process, the stern planes were damaged, an electric motor short-circuited, and an oil tank began to leak. Fürbringer surfaced; however, before the crew could surrender and abandon the boat, SM UB 110 was rammed twice by the destroyer Garry and sunk. [...] how stokers from the enemy ship hurled large lumps of coal at the defenseless swimmers; an 18-year-old sailor, it was said, had his skull crushed. SM UB-110 had, by that time, already sunk. It was not until the convoy—in which the destroyer was sailing—approached, accompanied by many ships flying neutral flags, that the British ceased fire and lowered lifeboats, Fürbringer reported. Of the 34 men who had managed to escape the U-boat, omly 13 survived the massacre."[2]
  • 19 July 1918 to 27 October 1919 POW in Britain (including in Colsterdale)
    • after his return, placed at disposal of the Kiel Command Headquarters and granted leave
  • 6 March 1920 Discharged from active military service with the statutory pension, the right to continue to wear the uniform and the prospect of employment in the civilian service of the Reichsmarine
  • 1920 to 1926 Employed in the private sector in Hamburg
  • 1 January 1927 to 1 October 1933 Civilian employee (L-Angestellter) in the state security (Landesschutz) at disposal of the Naval Command in the Reichswehr Ministry in a covert service
    • Fürbringer was in a shipbuilding engineering office in The Hague, specialized in engineering that deals with the construction of ships and boats. Involved in the development of the MVB II (Engine Test Boat II), built after 1935. In The Hague, he was also involved in the construction of Turkish submarines, and from 1 October 1931 to 31 March 1933, he served on behalf of the Reichsmarine as a submarine instructor in Turkey.
    • 20 September 1933 Commanded to Kiel
  • 1 October 1933 Transferred to Kiel and appointed Landesschutzoffizier (territorial protection / state security officer; L-Offizier)
    • Senior Instructor and Staff Officer at the Command of the Submarine Defense School in Kiel; The school was, in fact, not an anti-submarine warfare school, but rather—due to the still-valid Treaty of Versailles—a disguised school for the training of U-Boot personnel.
    • 24 August 1934 newly sworn-in to Adolf Hitler
    • In May 1936, his post was renamed; he now served as the First Seamanship Instructor and Training Officer of the Submarine Flotilla at the Anti-Submarine Warfare School.
    • In May 1937, his post was renamed once again; he now served as teacher and training instructor for the school U-boat formation of the Submarine School.
  • 5 March 1935 Appointed supplemental officer (Ergänzungsoffizier; E-Offizier)
  • 17 February 1938 Placed at disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy
  • 1 March 1938 Head of the Statistical Department at the Naval High Command (OKM)
    • 19 April 1941 appointed active officer
  • 11 October 1942 Inspector of the Military-Economic Inspectorate Ostland (Armaments Inspector)
  • 30 June 1943 Discharged from active military service (de facto retired) with the right to continue to wear the uniform
  • 1 July 1943 Placed at disposal of the Kriegsmarine without, however, being reactivated
    • During the last two years of the war, he served as Inspector of Industrial Air Raid Protection for the Reich Group for Industry.

U-boat service

Werner Furbringer served on two U-boat and then held command of seven U-boats during World War I:

  • SM U 1: 20 January 1913 to 4 August 1913 (Watch Officer)
  • SM U 20: 5 August 1913 to 28 March 1915 (Watch Officer)
  • SM UB 2: 31 March 1915 to 15 March 1916
    • 15 to 31 March 1916 granted leave
  • SM UB 39: 29 April 1916 to 7 November 1916
  • SM UC 70: 17 November 1916 to 7 June 1917
  • SM UC 17: 8 June 1917 to 4 August 1917
  • SM UB 58: 5 August 1917 to 18 February 1918
  • SM UB 110: 21 March 1918 to 19 July 1918
    • 21 dead, all of them murdered while still swimming in the water, and 13 survivors.

Post-WWII

He survived the Russian occupation serving as the concierge of his own home. Until 1948, he worked alongside his wife, Käte, as a general laborer in an electrical workshop in Berlin-Dahlem. During the Berlin Blockade of 1948, he relocated to Hagen in Westphalia. There, he took over the agency for the "Fit" rubber factory, owned by Edmund Graef of Frankfurt am Main. The firm's proprietor was the former Kapitän zur See (Engineer) Graef—formerly a technical advisor to the Commander of Submarine Training. In 1956, Werner Fürbringer returned to his hometown of Braunschweig. On 8 February 1982, he was called up to the "Great Fleet."

Family

Werner Fürbringer was the second-eldest child of Protestant Dr. med. Bruno Fürbringer (b. 1855, a surgeon and obstetrician originally from Gera, and his wife Elisabeth, née Ehrlich (b. 1861), who hailed from Schweidnitz in Lower Silesia. He had four siblings:

  • Gerhardt (1884–1972)
    • Kapitänleutnant Gerhardt Fürbringer was likewise a U-boat commandant. On 23 June 1915, while commanding SM U 40, he was taken prisoner of war by the Royal Navy when his boat was sunk by a British submarine.
  • Ernst (b. 1885)
  • Adele (b. 1891)
  • Ernst Fritz (1900–1988), Kaiserliche Marine in WWI, Freikorps, steel trader in Hamburg, then theater and film actor, as well as radio drama and voice-over artist; In 1944, he was listed on the Gottbegnadeten-Liste (List of God-Gifted Artists) of the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. After the war, he continued to work as an actor until the 1987. In addition, he dubbed such renowned actors as James Stewart, Melvyn Douglas, Rex Harrison, Henry Fonda, and—for a time—Gregory Peck.

Marriage

On 9 December 1916, 1st Lieutenant at Sea Fürbringer married his fiancée Käte Rennau, daughter of Privy Financial Councilor Wilhelm Rennau in Braunschweig. They would have four children:

  • Ingeborg Anni Franziska Gertrud (10 January 1921 in Hamburg); ∞ Berlin 31 January 1942 Hans(-)Joachim Karl Wilhelm Hellmuth Keitel (b. 5 November 1917 in Braunschweig; d. 3 August 2004 in Isernhagen near Hanover), son of Bodewin Keitel, Major of the Wehrmacht in WWII, industry representative and Colonel of the Reserves of the Bundeswehr; 2 children: daughter Sigrid, married von der Decken (b. 1944), and Johann-Henning (b. 1948), Lieutenant Colonel of the Bundeswehr (1970 to 2003) and politician (CDU)[3]
  • Hans-Günther (b. 15 March 1923 in Hamburg)
  • Peter-Werner (b. 13 September 1925 in Braunschweig; d. 17 March 1935 in Kiel)
  • Johann-Christian (b. 18 August 1936 in Kiel)

Promotions

  • 3 April 1907 Seekadett (Officer Candidate)
  • 21 April 1908 Fähnrich zur See (Officer Cadet)
  • 28 September 1910 Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 27 September 1913 Oberleutnant zur See (1st Lieutenant)
  • 16 November 1917 Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain)
  • 1 October 1933 Kapitänleutnant a. D./L-Offizier (retired Lieutenant Captain and state protection officer; Landesschutzoffizier) with the emoluments of a Fregattenkapitän
  • 15 May 1934 Fregattenkapitän a. D./L-Offizier (retired Frigate Captain / Commander and state protection officer; Landesschutzoffizier)
  • 5 March 1935 Fregattenkapitän/E-Offizier (supplemental Frigate Captain / Commander; Ergänzungsoffizier)
    • 1 May 1937 received new and improved Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 October 1933
  • 1 October 1937 Kapitän zur See/E-Offizier (supplemental Captain at Sea / Captain / Colonel; Ergänzungsoffizier)
  • 19 April 1941 Kapitän zur See (active Captain at Sea / Captain / Colonel) with effect from 20 April 1941 and RDA from 1 October 1937
  • 1 December 1942 Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral)
  • 1 July 1943 Konteradmiral z. V. (Rear Admiral at disposal)

Awards and decorations

Sources

  • German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/2280

Further reading

  • Otto Schniewind: History of the 1907 Crew (Kiel Naval School), 1959

External links

References

  1. ↑ Werner Fürbringer
  2. ↑ U-Boot im Ersten Weltkrieg, Der Spiegel
  3. ↑ Johann-Henning Keitel (Archive II)
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